White Sands

It was a rest day for us climbers at Hueco Tanks. Our muscles were sore and our skin was worn through. Normally we would head in to El Paso and use the Internet or watch movies, but the weather was perfect. It didn't take much persuading to get 11 of us to pile in three cars and head an hour north to White Sands National Monument in New Mexico.

We easily transitioned from practicing climbing to practicing controlled falling, as we found more and more interesting ways to throw ourselves off of the dunes. The soft landings gave us freedom in flight and we lost ourselves to gravity. After many flights we grew tired and the day slowed to a leisurely reflection of the beautiful environment we were in and the pleasurable company we were with. As the sun set, soft hues changed the color of the white dunes to lavender and we left exhausted and in high spirits.